My First term in STOR-i

Despite all the anticipation, dreaming and planning after getting selected for your dream course, at times the reality hits you hard. My first term experience as a STOR-i MRes student was quite daunting. After all, when the world is struck in pandemic, no amount of thinking or planning can truly prepare you for what it is like being surrounded by uncertainities. I would like to share my experience having completed my first term recently after all the hardships.

I am an international student and I am supposed to have a ATAS clearance and VISA to begin my studies. I had my interview in the last week of July and the course was supposed to begin in the first week of October,2021. I had applied for my ATAS clearance as soon as i decided to pursue this course, by the first week of August. ATAS clearance usually happens within 15-20 working days but due to pandemic and back logs, it took 57 working days in my case. I haven’t even applied for VISA then, as it requires ATAS Clearance. My course had already by that time but thankfully Lancaster University, STOR-i director Jonathan Tawn and Idris Eckley helped me to begin the course without deferring as I didn’t want to waste a year.

The first 5 weeks of the term, which was supposed to be a whirlwind of meeting my colleagues in MRes, PhD students and Professors went quiet in front of a computer screen as I tried to work and study on my own. Despite having an experience of an year of distance learning, this wasn’t easy by any means as I was the only one learning from distance in my cohort unlike previous year in my masters and I wasn’t able to attend the lectures. I had even missed the away day, a two-day team building retreat planned to ease us in the STOR-i atmosphere by getting to know various student and staff.

However, once my ATAS came, I applied for a priority visa, that arrives in 5 working days and planned to reach Lancaster before the sprint sessions, which is a group learning module. It is a unique element in the course, where a new Statistics or Operations Research (OR) topic will be introduced in a 2 hour lecture at the beginning of the week and we will be researching the topic as a small group for the rest of the week and present our findings. Personally, Since I came to Lancaster only during that week, it was even more challenging to manage academics and settling down in a new place. I managed to find an accommodation before the christmas break and finally settled down.

However, the sprint sessions were very rewarding as we explored a lot of new and significant topics. My classmates, professors and staff were very kind and helpful. They never made me feel out of place though I joined them late. I learnt a lot in terms of statistical knowledge, team work and presentation skills.

Its been a fascinating experience overall in the first term with some hardships. I look forward to my journey in STOR-i in the next terms which I am sure would be more enriching.

See you in my next blog post with some interesting topics in Statistics/OR I have come across in my learnings here.